Press Release - Dresdner Kleinwort Frankfurt Marathon - 10/14/08

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

                Rodgers Rop Adds More Kenyan Strength To 
                 Dresdner Kleinwort Frankfurt Marathon

Rodgers Rop has been added to the field of the 27th Dresdner Kleinwort 
Frankfurt Marathon, making it the most promising men's elite field in the 
history of the race. Germany's oldest city marathon will be started on 26th 
October. Present entry figures suggest that a record number of 12,500 
marathon runners will compete in Germany's financial capital. Adding other 
running events the Dresdner Kleinwort Frankfurt Marathon is expected to 
break the barrier of 20,000 runners for the first time. Entries for the 
race are still accepted. For more information and online registration 
visit: www.frankfurt-marathon.com 

The Dresdner Kleinwort Frankfurt Marathon is an IAAF Silver Label Road Race 
and Germany's third biggest marathon behind Berlin and Hamburg.

32 year-old Rodgers Rop will join a strong group of Kenyan runners on 26th 
October. Though he does not feature the fastest personal best in the field 
his credentials make him the favourite of the Dresdner Kleinwort Frankfurt 
Marathon. Rop has won the major marathons in New York and Boston and has 
also taken the Hamburg Marathon in 2007. It was in northern Germany last 
year, where he established his personal best of 2:07:32. In that race he 
just edged out fellow Kenyan Wilfred Kigen by one second. Kigen is 
Frankfurt's three time winner (2005 – 2007) and the course record holder. 
Rop and a number of other Kenyan runners will now chase this record of 
2:07:58, which Kigen had established only a year ago.

It was in 2002 when Rodgers Rop has achieved a remarkable double. In April 
he won the Boston Marathon and little more than half a year later he also 
took New York. The Kenyan became only the fourth runner ever to win these 
two races in the same year. Marathon legends Bill Rodgers (USA/1978 and 
'79) and Alberto Salazar (USA/1982) as well as Joseph Chebet (Kenya/1999) 
are the other three who took those two prestigious marathons in the same 
year. Rodgers Rop has achieved a number of other top placings in major city 
marathons and additionally has great personal bests at shorter distances, 
which suggest that he is capable of further improving his marathon best. He 
has run the half marathon in 59:49 minutes in Lisbon and produced a world 
record in Berlin's 25 k race in 2001, clocking 1:13:14. In 2007 Rodgers Rop 
was Haile Gebrselassie's pacemaker up to the 30 k point (1:28:56), when the 
Ethiopian broke the world record in the Berlin Marathon. If he or another 
runner achieves a winning time of sub 2:07 in Frankfurt, he will earn a 
total of 95,000 Euros.

Rodgers Rop will face stiff opposition at the Dresdner Kleinwort Frankfurt 
Marathon on 26th October. Kenyans William Kiplagat (2:06:50) and Benjamin 
Maiyo (2:07:09) have already run faster than Rop while Benson Barus 
(2:08:34) and Stephen Kiogora (2:09:21) will also look to improve on the 
fast Frankfurt course. Another new addition to the field besides Rodgers 
Rop is fellow Kenyan Philemon Kirwa Tarbei, who won the Torino Marathon 
2007 with 2:10:24.

There will be live reporting on the internet on 26th October at: 
www.frankfurt-marathon.com

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